Sony Xperia 1 III vs Xperia 1 II
57
out of 100
VS
53
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.5-inch Sony Xperia 1 III (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888) that was released on April 14, 2021, against the Sony Xperia 1 II, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and came out 1 year and 2 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Sony Xperia 1 III
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
- The rear camera has a 4.4x optical zoom
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- 27% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1232K versus 973K)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- The phone is 1 year and 2 months newer
Reasons to consider the Sony Xperia 1 II
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 10% longer battery life (16:57 vs 15:23 hours)
- Delivers 9% higher peak brightness (604 against 555 nits)
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.5 inches | 6.5 inches |
| Resolution | 1644 x 3840 pixels | 1644 x 3840 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 21:9 | 21:9 |
| PPI | 643 ppi | 643 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 385 nits | 580 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 620 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Touch sampling rate | 120 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.2% | 84.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 123.3% |
| PWM | 476 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 7.5 ms | 7.5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 165 mm (6.5 inches) | 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) |
| Width | 71 mm (2.8 inches) | 71.1 mm (2.8 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 186 g (6.56 oz) | 181 g (6.38 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Gray, Purple | Black, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 585 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | 4 MB |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon 780 | Hexagon 698 |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Adreno 650 |
| GPU shading units | 768 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 587 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1290.2 GFLOPS | ~901.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 4494 | 2954 |
| Single-core score | 1528 | 1175 |
| Multi-core score | 3917 | 3415 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 435324 | 383618 |
| GPU | 228692 | 143676 |
| Memory | 219361 | 167196 |
| UX | 348823 | 279009 |
| Total score | 1232200 | 973499 |
| Samples | [4 tests] | [8 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 77% | - |
| Graphics test | 4 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 505 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 70% | 99% |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | 6 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1485 | 1102 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 12641 | 8599 |
| Video editing | 7747 | 5819 |
| Photo editing | 31867 | 28906 |
| Data manipulation | 11659 | 8515 |
| Writing score | 17464 | 14916 |
Recent User Tests
Sony Xperia 1 III
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-07 (Nam) | AnTuTu 12 | 1163847 |
| 📘 2026-02-22 (semga) | AnTuTu 11 | 1245240 |
| 📘 2025-10-10 (desomorphine) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 4494 |
| 📘 2025-10-10 (desomorphine) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1528 / 3917 |
| 📘 2025-10-10 (desomorphine) | AnTuTu 11 | 1232200 |
Sony Xperia 1 II
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-23 (Teddy) | AnTuTu 11 | 955212 |
| 📘 2026-07-21 -> lightareof | AnTuTu 11 | 927027 |
| 📘 2026-06-30 (Anh Peter) | AnTuTu 11 | 976506 |
| 📘 2026-03-29 (DINO) | AnTuTu 11 | 970506 |
| 📘 2026-03-19 -> Minh | AnTuTu 11 | 978910 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.0 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1024 GB | Up to 1000 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) |
| OS size | 16 GB | 20 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 21 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes | Yes (11 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (40% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:50 hr | 1:55 hr |
| Web browsing | 05:20 hr | 05:14 hr |
| Watching video | 08:56 hr | 09:52 hr |
| Gaming | 04:04 hr | 03:47 hr |
| Standby | 82 hr | 97 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 4.4x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 120 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 124° | 124° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth: 0.3 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP 4) Depth: 0.0432 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX557 | Sony IMX557 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.7" (≈ 0.59 inch) | 1/1.7" (≈ 0.59 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.8 micron | 1.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.3 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 70 mm | 70 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX663 | Samsung S5K3T2 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 16 mm | 16 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX363 | Sony IMX363 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 60 | - |
| Preview | 57 | - |
| Zoom | 104 | - |
| Samples | Photo samples of Sony Xperia 1 III from DxOMark | Photo samples of Sony Xperia 1 II from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K4H7 | Samsung S5K4H7 |
| Sensor size | 1/4" (≈ 0.25 inch) | 1/4" (≈ 0.25 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 22 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | Yes |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | April 2021 | February 2020 |
| Release date | June 2021 | July 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1200 | $1200 |
| Successor | - Sony Xperia 1 VII | - Sony Xperia 1 VII |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.67 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 30 W | - |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, performance, gaming, and software are more important to you, then choose the Sony Xperia 1 III. But if the camera is more of a priority – go for the Sony Xperia 1 II.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 105